It was the year when Magic: The Gathering Cards were such a hit, the guys would hold secret card game sessions in a classroom beside the faculty room. The teachers would always get puzzled as to why that classroom's jalousie windows were always shut closed and why, even the boys from the other sections would frequent that classroom during breaktimes.
It was also the year when oldies music, which the students dubbed "sentis" would have a grand comeback. When somebody from the class brought his radio in school, the following afternoon after the class had ended, one could hear songs such as "Lately" by Stevie Wonder, "I Will Always Love You" by Michael Johnson and "Buttercup" by The Temptations being played over and over again.
The get-ups during that age were much simpler and more of an old school. No one knew what Emo means and Alternative Music was just about to hit the airwaves with Toad The Wet Sprocket's hit, "All I Want." To say a guy wears a cool get up means seeing him wearing a rugged striped shirt, faded tight jeans, Puma sneakers and a Khumbmela backpack.
Nobody in that batch were in a relationship with someone, and to be in one is considered uncool or at most, a hassle. Having a mobile phone means bringing along a shoebox-sized gadget, which hardly fit inside a teenage student slacks' pocket.
Back then, life was a little more rustic and uncomplicated. Most of the student's lives revolved around animes, which had its renewed wave two years before - with the rise of Yuyu Hakusho or Ghostfighter and Daimos in IBC 13, Sailormoon and Yaiba in ABC 5, and Magic Knight Rayearth in ABS-CBN.
And yes, back then, to know how to use Microsoft Word Windows 95 Edition is considered a genius.
I knew how to use one, and that is the kind of high-school life I grew up to.
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The year is 2006.
Classes were just starting and after almost a year of not accompanying my mother going to class in the university where she teaches - which is also the campus where I studied in high school, I decided to join her this morning after I took a leave of absence from work.
While inside the elevator going to the fifth floor, I told my mom that I wanted to visit my high school after dreaming last night that I saw my teachers in elementary again. She encouraged me to push through with my plans to see them since its been years since I last stepped foot on our high school. However, I had second thoughts about pushing through because I was just wearing slippers and shorts and to appear like that in a formal institution would be a disgrace.
The elevators doors finally opened and interestingly, the only person who was waiting for that elevator to open on that floor was - a high school student from my school.
"I have my sign," I told my mom.
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